Self-publishing has come a long way from the days when my mother shared her holiday poems with her students using the school’s mimeograph machine. Today, there are multiple resources designed to make your book look right at home on the New York Times bestseller list. A quick internet search revealed more than 20 self-publishing applications, and another 20+ self-publishing platforms. Although self-publishing gives us authors more opportunities to get our content “out there” to the reading or viewing public, without the checks and balances of a traditional publishing house, there are lots of potential potholes one can fall into during the process.

Amazon offers a free “1-2-3 Steps to Self-Publishing” guide to help aspiring authors. But their software platform doesn’t take the place of human hands touching your work before uploading it.

Every source I consulted stressed the need for an outside editor to review your work. (For more on editing, see pages 30-31 in the Summer issue of Ruff Drafts.) A BookBaby survey (Amazon) of 850 authors and editors earning significant royalties on their work found that more than 70% had a professional editor review their work. I totally agree. With three degrees in communication, I’m still my own worst enemy when it comes to writing. (Editors: everything you read in Ruff Drafts is edited two to three times by others before publication. And, we still miss stuff!)

Award-winning sci-fi author Kim Catanzarite discussed self-publishing pitfalls in Writer’s Digest saying, “The brain works in mysterious ways, and when it edits its own work, it tells itself that work is perfect. In other words, if you self-edit, you are sure to miss mistakes—even the glaring ones.”

Before you get to the professional editor stage, you might also want to get a few friends to be beta readers and find the most obvious errors and/or omissions in your story. Writer’s groups are great for this, as are friends who are non-writers but avid readers. Several members of my writer’s group self-publish and I’ve learned a lot and enjoyed being a beta reader.

Another potential blooper in self-publishing is trying to design your own cover. Palmetto Publishing, a company that assists authors who want to self-publish, points out that people DO judge a book by its cover. No matter how well-written, your book has no chance of getting read (or listened to) if your reader skips over it because the cover doesn’t convey the essence of your text.

The Amazonians, as I call them, recommend developing a promotional plan BEFORE you publish your work. They call it a “lifetime marketing plan.” Kind of like checking with MapQuest before you pull out of the driveway. This starts with visualizing your intended (widest possible) audience. Once you can “see” a book reader, you can visualize ways to engage them. This should start with search engine optimization (SEO) for both the book synopsis that will accompany its publication/listing and the artist’s description (your bio). You might also want to join communities, such as writers forums that your audience frequents. If you don’t have an active social media presence, such as a website and/or blog dedicated to your writing, now is the time to create one, again, before the book goes out into the world. Start collecting the names and email addresses of friends and friends of friends. Create a grassroots subscriber’s list. I follow an author who sends out an email every weekend updating her progress on her various projects. Will I buy all her books? Probably not, but I want to know what she’s working on in case something sounds interesting. My research also identified the need for a “Street Team,” a group of readers interested in promoting your work through word-of-mouth and providing you with reviews that you can use to promote the book. One way to cultivate this group is through Facebook. I’ve seen this used quite effectively with hobby groups. As a quilter, Facebook groups have been effective at alerting me to new publications that might be of interest.

Speaking of reviews, a prepublication review that is written by a well-known entity, such as Reedsy, Kirkus Reviews, BookLife, Publishers Weekly and Write With Light, (the last two offer free reviews), will provide your book with much-needed clout. Of course, once you become a household name, you’ll have other bestselling authors on speed dial and can get those Marquee Reviews without a problem. But everyone starts somewhere.

Armed with a proofread manuscript, a professionally designed cover, a community/audience following, and some professionally crafted reviews of your work, you’ll be well on your way to self-publishing heaven. Good Luck!